Duel Opinions: Steelers/Jaguars Keys to the Game
Each week the Steel City Underground staff will put their brilliant minds to task in order to come up with their keys to the game, or, those players, coaching decisions, or situations which could determine the outcome of the game.
Mike Pelaia
The team must focus the offense around Le’Veon Bell. He doesn’t need to have 35 carries, but giving him 20-25 and another 5-7 catches would really help bring balance to the offense, much like in Baltimore, preventing Jacksonville from focusing strictly on Antonio Brown.
Tina Rivers
The Steelers run defense needs to continue to play at a high level and remove Leonard Fournette from being the Jaguars’ playmaker. Added pressure with a mix of blitz packages should rattle Bortles into mistakes since he has seen very little production from his receivers. Offensively, establishing the run early is key for the Steelers. By sucking the Jaguars in, Roethlisberger should have plenty of open receiving targets. The biggest key for Steelers is to protect the ball and prevent turnovers and hits on Big Ben.
Brian E. Roach
The Jags have the worst rushing defense in the league giving up 165.5 yards per game on the ground. The Steelers need to take advantage of that when the Jags come to Heinz field. Le’Veon Bell will be the key to getting the offense on track. The Steelers need to establish the run early and stay with it. As always, the secondary key is mental mistakes. Mistakes that lead to the Jags getting a shortened field or putting the Steelers behind the chains so that they are forced out of the run game could cause problems.
The flip side of the Jaguars defense is that they are giving up the fewest yards through the air, only 147 per game. In addition, they are leading the league with 18 sacks. If the Steelers want to open the game up they are going to need to soften the Jaguars on the ground first.
Joe Kuzma
Following Brian’s lead, that’s the first thing I noticed as well: the Jags have one of the “top” pass defenses because teams gameplan to run on them.
For fans who want to see the Steelers open up the passing game, I have some bad news for you: expect more of the same from last week’s Ravens game. I’d venture to guess 30-plus rushing attempts on Sunday again, with 8-10 fewer passes. I don’t know if all of those carries will go to Le’Veon Bell, but I can see Bell on the field as part of the passing game as well.
While the key is to run the ball effectively, my weakest link pick is still valid: the offensive line must play mistake-free football so the Steelers offense doesn’t stall.
Eric Herrmann
My key is the Steelers secondary. Not necessarily for their pass coverage though, but their run support. It’s easy to assume the Jaguars will look at the Bears game for a blueprint on how to beat the Steelers. Just like the Bears, the Jaguars cannot beat the Steelers with their quarterback. It’ll take a running game to get their W – and luckily for them, they have a talented guy with Leonard Fournette. The Steelers front 7 is very stout versus the run, but its the secondary who is at fault for many of the big runs given up this year.
It is vital that this unit is solid with their tackling and their angles and that they do not give up big plays.
Zach Metkler
My key is that the Steelers need to find a way to be opportunistic against a quarterback like Blake Bortles. They have proven that they can take the ball away from opponents and have a solid TO differential at home but when you’re playing a turnover-prone quarterback like Bortles, you need to take those opportunities.
The Jaguars have proven that they can get into a grove on offense when Bortles is playing somewhat consistent football and with a top-tier defense like they have, that could spell doom for the Steelers. Create turnovers and keep the offense on the field to prevent the Jaguars from having any scoring opportunities. That will lead to a victory against a team with a stingy defense.
Terry Fletcher
The key this game for me is about the weather. I’m looking at the weather projections for Sunday and I see 80 degrees, humidity and some stormy skies in Pittsburgh for our home game against the Jags.
The guys need to prepare now and stay hydrated. We’ve seen some of the players taken out for dehydration not to mention a virus has been going around the last week which they cannot help with this unseasonably warm weather in October.
The stormy part with winds and possible rain could affect our kicking game at a field already known to be tough to kick at. The wind could also affect Ben’s passing game even though we expect (and the Jags will expect) a run-heavy game again this week.
